Changes of acute-phase proteins during different physiological conditions in dairy Saanen goats

A wide range of physiologic and metabolic changes occur during late pregnancy to parturition and lactation because of increased fetal growth and colostrum and milk production. This study was aimed to investigate the changes of acute-phase proteins (APPs) during important physiological condition (late pregnancy and early lactation) in dairy Saanen goats. Twenty clinically healthy Saanen does with an age of 3 ± 0.5 years were used for the study. They were randomly selected from a larger herd according to singleton pregnancy. Samples were collected from jugular vein at three different physiological times which included T1, non-pregnancy non-lactation (before pregnancy); T2, late pregnancy (4-month pregnancy); and T3, early lactation (1 month after parturition). The assessment of the serum concentrations of haptoglobin (Hp), serum amyloid A (SAA), ceruloplasmin (Cp), and plasma fibrinogen (Fib) were measured. The serum concentrations of Hp at T₁ were significantly lower than T₂ (P < 0.001) and also at T₂ significantly lower than T₃ (P < 0.01). The Cp levels were significantly higher at T₂ compared with other times of sampling (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in SAA and Fib concentrations at different times of study. The determination of changes in serum concentrations of APPs can be helpful in monitoring animal health, finding the causes of physiological stress, and making a differential diagnosis from the pathological conditions.